World Immigration News

(Asylum Seeker Resource Centre)Abdel-Hady v Commonwealth of Australia

Release Date: 2026-06-23
Media: Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
Summary: On 10 June 2026, the High Court of Australia ruled in Abdel-Hady v Commonwealth of Australia that the government cannot avoid liability for unlawfully detaining a person simply because officials relied on the earlier Al-Kateb precedent, which had permitted indefinite immigration detention. The Court unanimously held that there is no common law defence protecting the Commonwealth from claims of false imprisonment where detention was later found to be unlawful.

The case involved Abdel-Hady, an unlawful non-citizen who could not be removed from Australia due to a medical condition. Although the government acknowledged that his detention from July 2022 to February 2024 was not authorised by law, it argued that officials had acted in accordance with the then-binding Al-Kateb decision until it was overturned by the High Court in NZYQ in 2023. The Court rejected this argument, finding that an erroneous precedent cannot continue to justify unlawful conduct once it has been recognised as contrary to the law.

The ruling has significant implications for people who were indefinitely detained despite having no realistic prospect of removal, including stateless persons, refugees, and individuals facing practical barriers to deportation. Such individuals may now have stronger grounds to seek damages from the Commonwealth for false imprisonment arising from unlawful immigration detention.
Tags: Australia

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